To Protect Her: Scarlet and Wolf
by Down Iris
Summary: Wolf convinces Jael to let him have Scarlet as his slave in order to save her from torture, but she's not too sure about the situation.


To Protect Her: Scarlet and Wolf

by Down Iris

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I do not have any rights to nor make any money from the characters in this story.

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Wolf convinces Jael to let him have Scarlet as his slave in order to save her from torture, but she's not too sure about the situation.

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Please read my other Scarlet and Wolf stories, A Piercing Gaze, What He Knows That She Doesn't, Coincidence, A Hasty Escape, and What Was Wolf Thinking?

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This takes place as if the special operatives never attacked. Everything continues on as usual for Wolf.

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Scarlet was lying on the bed in her cell when the scanner beeped. She turned and saw Wolf in the doorway. It was the first time she'd seen him since he'd handed her over to these monsters.

She leaped off the bed and felt dizzy. She caught his eye as he gazed expressionlessly at her. She filled with rage.

"Scarlet." A hint of a struggle crossed his face.

She screamed and attacked. After a few strikes, he caught her wrists. She pulled back for a kick, but he spun her so she was facing away from him, holding her arms behind her.

"Let go of me!" she cried, and stomped on his toes. "You traitor! You bastard! Let go of me!" She lifted her foot to kick him, when he released her. She moved to the wall and faced him. "What? What do you want?" Scarlet glared at him with hatred while he remained expressionless.

"Jael has given me permission to keep you as my slave," Wolf said simply.

" _What?!_ " Scarlet cried out. "No way!" She backed against the far wall of the cell.

"Will you come on your own or do I need to carry you?"

"Stay away from me!"

"I guess that's your answer," Wolf replied, still expressionless, and he instantly closed the distance between them. Scarlet tried to resist, but soon Wolf had her wrists clasped behind her again. He started to pull her to the door, but she went limp. Wolf stopped only a second before he had her over his shoulder, wrists still held behind her back.

"Let go of me, you bastard!" Scarlet cried, kicking him as hard as she could. He didn't pause until they had gone through several hallways.

Wolf stopped at a door and Scarlet heard a scanner beep. Once they were inside and the door was closed, he set her down. She ran straight for the door and pulled on the knob, but it wouldn't open.

"It will only open with an ID chip," Wolf explained. "This is my room." He sat down on the bed, a double bed that had two pillows, sheets, and a blanket, unlike in her cell, though they all looked plain. Scarlet scanned the rest of the room, searching for a weapon. There was a desk and chair in one corner, and a dresser in another. A door led off of one side. The room was more than twice as big as her cell. She noticed that her bag was sitting next to the dresser.

Wolf sat watching her, still expressionless. Scarlet pushed herself into the corner furthest from him and crossed her arms. "What are you planning to do to me?" she asked angrily.

Wolf's eyes flicked up and down her body, and then he turned away, blushing. "I'm not going to do anything to you. This was the only way I could protect you."

"Protect me?" Scarlet scoffed, disbelieving.

Wolf turned back to face her, this time looking uncomfortable. "Yes. Jael was planning to torture you to get your grandmother to talk." Scarlet's eyes widened. "So unless you want to try your luck with him, you're stuck here."

"Why don't you just let me go then?" Scarlet demanded.

"They'd just track you down again, and they'd kill me for helping you. Then who would protect you?" Wolf sounded a little angry himself. "I wanted to run away, but you insisted on going after your grandmother, so this is the best I can do for you for now." He pushed himself off of the bed. "I'll try to get you in to see your grandmother, but I don't know if I can. Now I have to get back to work. I'll bring back some dinner."

Scarlet didn't move or say anything as Wolf exited the room.

She sank onto the bed, mind reeling at this change. She didn't know what to think. She believed Wolf when he said she would have been tortured, given what her father had gone through, but she didn't trust anything else he had said. He could just be lulling her into a false sense of security, or he could be planning something else to do to her that would be just as bad as torture. She had seen the look in his eyes, the same longing that he'd had in the train.

She had perked up when he mentioned seeing her grandmother, though.

She quickly searched through the room. The dresser held mostly clothes. The desk drawers were empty except for a portscreen. She got excited when she saw it, but it was password protected. She opened the other door to find a bathroom with just a sink and toilet, and towels and toiletries. There was nothing good to use as a weapon except maybe the desk chair, and nothing to use to communicate to the outside world or escape. The room didn't have any windows.

She pawed through her own bag, and wasn't surprised that her portscreen was missing. Everything else seemed to be there.

She was grateful for the bathroom, after having just a pail before. She washed off as much grime as possible and changed clothes. She washed her old clothes as well as she could in the sink and hung them up. She lay down on the comfortable bed for a while, grateful for a pillow, until it occurred to her that she might come to regret what happened on that bed in the future. She quickly switched to the desk chair, sitting on a pillow.

Scarlet's afternoon was just as boring as her morning had been, and the day before, but now she dreaded Wolf's return.

Eventually the scanner beeped and Wolf came in, carrying a tray of food. He set it down in front of her without saying anything, and neither did she. He sat down on the bed. She had not eaten anything since she had been imprisoned, but she needed an excuse to not meet his eyes, which she could tell were focused on her. She ate slowly, ignoring Wolf as he sat there quietly. Finally she couldn't pretend to still be eating, so she decided to swivel around and face Wolf directly.

"What do you want?" she demanded, sounding angrier than she'd intended.

Wolf sighed. "Nothing." He turned away from her.

Scarlet still felt defensive. "What are you planning to do?" she asked, not sure if she meant about herself or in general.

"What would _you_ like to do?" he countered.

"You're giving me a choice?" she asked, disbelieving.

"Well, I doubt you'd want to do what _I_ want to do, so go ahead." Scarlet wasn't sure if she wanted to ask what he wanted to do, or why she wouldn't want to do it. She decided to just ignore that.

"I want to see Grand-mere!"

Wolf sighed again and looked regretful. "I'm sorry, but that's not an option."

Scarlet glared at him for a minute. "Fine, then, I want to watch a movie. Being stuck in this place is boring. I've been studying the wallpaper."

"My portscreen's in the drawer. Bring it over and we can watch one."

"You mean I have to watch it with you?"

"I can't let you use the portscreen on your own, or you'd probably call for help. You'll have to sit with me."

Scarlet hesitated, thinking of various responses. Finally she decided that sitting on the bed with him was better than other things he could force her to do on the bed. She handed him the portscreen and sat as far from him as possible.

She directed him to find a movie database, and selected the sappiest chick flick she could think of, assuming he wouldn't like it. Wolf held the portscreen out so she could see it, but she found herself unconsciously drifting towards him on the bed. He stayed silent, so she did also, though she looked up occasionally to see his expression. It ranged through various emotions along with the movie. Several times she caught him looking at her out of the corner of his eye, but he glanced back at the portscreen when he saw her looking at him.

Finally it was over. "So did you like it?" Scarlet asked, somewhat sarcastically.

"It seemed nice, but I haven't watched a movie since I was twelve, so it's hard to tell."

Scarlet's jaw fell open. "Not since you were _twelve_?" she asked.

"No. And those were mostly action movies. I don't think I've ever watched a romance." Wolf looked over at her but quickly glanced away.

"Why haven't you watched any movies?" she asked, confused.

"We weren't allowed to once we became soldiers. All we did was train, train, train."

"You became a soldier when you were twelve, like how you said you joined the Order of the Pack?"

"Yes. One morning when I was twelve, two thaumaturges came to my door and took me from my family. I was forced undergo physical and genetic modifications, making me how I am today." He pointed to a sharp canine. "I was given to Jael to train along with the other special operatives in this opera house." Wolf looked away from her.

Scarlet's jaw had dropped further and further as she listened, and her nose wrinkled with disgust. "That's horrible! How could they do that to a twelve-year-old!" She realized that she was leaning towards Wolf, so she sat back. "I didn't really get it when you talked about that stuff on the way here, and I haven't thought about it since I found out that you're Lunar." She felt a little more comfortable with him after knowing this.

"I'm getting tired, and I have to get up early in the morning. Go get ready for bed."

Scarlet was annoyed with being ordered, but she realized gratefully that this probably meant he wasn't going to do anything to her, tonight at least. She got her things out of her bag and went into the bathroom.

When she came out, Wolf was putting the portscreen back in the desk. She pulled the pillow out of the chair. "I'll sleep on the floor," she said.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that." Scarlet stiffened. "If someone were to come in and see that we're not in the same bed, they might question our arrangement." Wolf sounded embarrassed as he said this.

Scarlet frowned. "Fine, but stay on your side!" she said with as much authority as she could manage. She looked forward to sleeping on a nice bed, however. She crawled under the covers on one side and lay as close to the edge as possible. Wolf went into the bathroom, and then turned out the light before climbing into the other side of the bed.

Scarlet stayed awake until she heard Wolf sleeping. She had to admit that today hadn't turned out nearly as bad as she thought it would when Wolf came to get her.

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When Scarlet woke up, she found that Wolf was gone and a tray of breakfast was left on the desk. After eating it, she found herself with nothing to do again, just like the last two days.

When Wolf came into the room a few hours later, bringing lunch, Scarlet was sitting in the chair with her head resting on her arms on the desk, staring at the century old wallpaper.

"See any interesting patterns?" he asked.

"No, just the same boring ones as yesterday," she said accusingly, still facing the wall.

"Well, I guess you'll enjoy having this back then," he replied, setting her portscreen down in front of her.

Scarlet gasped and picked it up. "My portscreen! Thank you!"

"You can access the net, but you can't send anything from it. That's the best I can do. At least you won't die from boredom."

Scarlet started to look at Wolf suspiciously, but then she swallowed it down. She wanted to complain, but she decided she couldn't expect for him to give her an easy means of escape.

At least she had her portscreen, so her days of confinement wouldn't consist of staring at the wallpaper anymore. Hopefully she could work out some way to escape using it as well, although she knew nothing about hacking or how to go around whatever block had been put on it.

"When can I see Grand-mere?" she asked again.

"I don't know. Not today, at least."

"Fine," Scarlet grumbled, then paused. "What's your first name, anyway?" she asked. "If I'm going to be stuck with you, I should call you by it."

"It's Ze'ev. But you can keep calling me Wolf if you prefer. I don't care."

"Ze'ev Kesley?" Wolf nodded. "I think I like Wolf better. That's what I'm used to."

Wolf smiled. "Whatever you want." He left the room.

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When Wolf came with dinner, Scarlet was lying on the bed reading on her portscreen. Wolf sat on the bed watching her as she ate again. When she was done, she pulled her portscreen out again without saying anything to Wolf. After a few minutes, he sighed, got up, and picked up his portscreen from the dresser. He lay down on the bed. Scarlet watched him out of the corner of her eye as he did this. She didn't look at him again until she had to get up to go to the bathroom. When she did, she saw that he was staring at her with an expression filled with longing and regret. He quickly glanced back at his portscreen.

After a couple of hours of them not saying anything, Wolf told Scarlet to get ready for bed again. She did so with pleasure, grateful that another night had gone by without incident.

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"Do you want to take a shower this afternoon?" Wolf asked when he brought Scarlet lunch the next day.

"Why, do you think I smell?" she asked angrily.

Wolf blushed and looked away. "No, I like your smell," he said sheepishly, and turned back to her. "I just thought it would make you more comfortable."

Scarlet calmed down some. "Fine, I guess. Where are your showers?"

"There's one down the hallway. I could stand guard so no one else comes in."

Scarlet looked mad again. "As long as you promise not to peek!"

Wolf held up his hands. "I promise, I swear."

After Scarlet finished lunch, she got her stuff together and she followed Wolf down the hallway. He opened a door, leaned in, and sniffed. "There's no one in here," he said.

Scarlet went in. There were two shower stalls with curtains. She spent longer than usual in the shower, trying to wash off all the filth of that place. Finally she finished and was drying her hair when she heard a conversation outside.

"Sorry, my slave is taking a shower. You can't go in," Wolf said. Scarlet bristled at the word 'slave.'

"Come on, can't I check her out? I only got to see her the once," someone else said.

"No, she is mine," Wolf said, slightly growling.

"Don't _you_ want to see her, though?"

"I can see her naked anytime I want, so I don't need to see her now."

"Aw, fine."

Scarlet's heart started beating faster. Did this mean he was going to make her strip for him?

Then another thought struck her. Why hadn't he made her strip already? He was strong enough to hold her down, tear her clothes off, and do whatever he wanted to her. She had feared that since he first brought her to his room. But it had been two nights, and he hadn't laid a finger on her.

Wolf took her back to his room and left her. That evening, Scarlet read from her portscreen again, trying her best to ignore him, remembering what he had said earlier. She was fearful the entire night, but they went to bed without saying much again. She only relaxed when she heard him fall asleep.

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Scarlet woke up in the middle of the night. She felt safe and warm, cuddled up next to someone. She was still half-asleep. She felt an arm around her, which she clung to. Content, she drifted back to sleep.

Later, she woke up again, also still half-asleep. She felt that something was missing, something important. She shivered and felt around for warmth, but there was none there. Suddenly she was wide-awake.

"That bastard! He cuddled up with me during the night! And I was too sleepy to call him on it! I've told him to stay on his side every night!" Scarlet fumed for a minute, and thought about how she would complain, until she decided that it would be best to catch him in the act. She would wait until he did it again.

She turned the light on and found breakfast on the desk again.

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"I have an idea to run by you," Ze'ev said to Jael that morning.

Jael smiled. "Go ahead."

"I think Madame Benoit might be persuaded to give up her secrets if we put her together with my slave, if she believes that I'm sneaking her in to visit, rather than if she thinks someone is listening in, although I'll still be listening. What do you think of that plan?"

Jael laughed. "So you'll trick your slave into believing you're doing her a favor, when you're really gaining intelligence? That sounds like a good plan. I'll tell everyone at lunch to clear the path from your room to the prison cells from say, 1:00 to 2:00? Someone can plant a microphone nearby too."

"That sounds perfect."

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"See anything interesting?" Wolf asked as he entered his room, bringing lunch. Scarlet was on her portscreen at the desk. His heart lurched as she looked up at him.

"Your queen is causing havoc in the Eastern Commonwealth."

Wolf wanted to say something about that, but stopped. "I have a surprise for you," he said instead.

Scarlet perked up. "Really?"

"I can take you to see your grandmother now."

Scarlet gasped and stood up, discarding the forgotten portscreen on the desk. "You can? Let's go! Are we going to be able to escape?"

"I'm sorry. I can't get you out of the opera house. Just getting you to see her is as much as I can manage. We need to go quietly. I bribed the guard to be elsewhere. Just follow me. But don't tell her about me or our arrangement."

Scarlet looked torn between elated and forlorn as she followed Wolf out the door and through the opera house, back to the rooms where she had originally been imprisoned. They saw no one on their way.

Wolf's whole body ached from wanting to touch Scarlet, even just to brush her beautiful curls off of her shoulder. It wasn't as bad as the ache from when they were apart, though. Wolf wondered dejectedly yet again if she could ever forgive him and trust him again, if they could ever share what they had in the train again. But he knew she must hate him.

He was glad that he had finally thought up this ploy to get Scarlet in to see her grandmother without Jael becoming suspicious.

He stopped at one prison cell and swiped his ID chip. The scanner beeped and the door opened. Scarlet went in without prompting.

"Grand-mere!" Scarlet cried, sinking down next to her grandmother on the bed. Wolf listened as they talked until it was 1:55, not hearing anything that Jael would be interested in. He had enjoyed listening to Scarlet talk, however. Her intense love of her grandmother was one of the reasons he had fallen in love with her to begin with.

He swiped his ID chip again. "Time to go," he said, opening the door. "You may never see her again, so say your last farewells."

Scarlet and her grandmother shared a tearful good-bye, and Scarlet finally dragged herself away. She had tears dripping down her cheeks all the way back to his room. Wolf would have loved to comfort her, but he didn't think she would want comfort from him. He let her into his room and was closing the door to go back to work when she stopped him.

"Thank you so much! Really!" Scarlet leaned out and kissed him on the cheek before going back into the room. Wolf stood in front of the door for several minutes before leaving, waiting for his pulse to slow down and the blush he could feel to recede, not wanting the others to see him like that.

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Scarlet felt like her whole journey was worthwhile just to be able to see her grandmother one last time. It would have been better if they could escape, but this was better than staying on the farm, never knowing what had happened to her. She didn't mind being stuck in Wolf's room as much now. Though she still didn't trust him, she realized that she needed to be grateful to Wolf, for saving her from torture and for managing to sneak her in to see her grandmother. Surely he would have gotten in trouble if they were caught.

She cried for another hour, though, because she doubted she would be able to see her grandmother again, and she had seen what pain she had been in.

When she went to visit her grandmother, she had paid attention to their route. Hopefully eventually she would be able come up with some way to get her disabled grandmother out of that prison. She shivered, thinking about what had been done to her, and was again grateful for her own escape. Thinking back to how Wolf had been acting, she realized that he probably had merely wanted to protect her when he had claimed her as his "slave."

She decided that she needed to be nicer to Wolf. After dinner, instead of pulling out her portscreen again, she asked, "Would you like to watch a movie?"

Wolf's face lit up with a smile. "Sure." Scarlet sat on the bed with him, not next to him, but closer than a few nights before. She pulled up an action movie on her portscreen, thinking he would like that. They watched in silence again, although she caught him looking at her a few times again as well. He seemed to be enjoying the movie.

When it was done, Scarlet asked Wolf how he had liked it. He was smiling as they discussed the movie for a while, until he told her it was time to go to bed. For the first night, she didn't feel uncomfortable falling asleep next to Wolf.

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The next day passed the same as the last few, with Scarlet reading, watching movies, and playing games on her portscreen. After dinner, she turned to Wolf again, about to suggest watching another movie, but she saw a large bandage on his forearm that she hadn't noticed when he gave her her dinner.

"What happened to your arm?" she asked, concerned.

"Nothing, really. One of the other pack members got a hit in."

"You were fighting? Why?"

Wolf smiled. "We always fight. That's how the pack's set up. We're conditioned to fight for status. The last eleven years of my life have consisted of fighting."

"That's horrible! I never really thought about what you do when you're not here. What else do you do?"

"Mostly just exercising, training, and fighting. Ever since I was twelve." He looked embarrassed when he said, "I'm the Alpha because I'm the best fighter. That's why I was chosen to bring you here."

Scarlet smiled. "Really?" She asked him more questions about his past, eventually getting to his childhood before he was conscripted as a soldier. Finally Wolf said it was time for bed. As she lay awake in bed, she thought back and realized that she had enjoyed talking with Wolf a lot. She realized that she had started feeling lonely ignoring him.

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The next day was the same as well, although Scarlet was planning what to talk to Wolf about that night. She thought she'd tell him about her childhood, since he had told her about his.

When he came back with dinner, Scarlet started talking to him right away. "How did your day go?" she started with.

"Fine," Wolf replied simply. Scarlet managed to coax some more details out of him.

When she had gotten all she thought she could out of him, she said, "Yesterday we talked about your childhood. I was wondering if you wanted to ask me any questions about mine."

Wolf blushed. "Actually, I already know a lot more about you than you probably realize."

Scarlet frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I researched about you before I came to Rieux. I wanted to know all I could, in case something would help me gain your trust. I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry, it wasn't your fault that you got assigned to me. But what sort of things do you know?"

Wolf listed a few things, like her school transcripts and documentation. Scarlet was embarrassed to know that he knew she had gotten suspended in the ninth grade.

She decided to fill in the gaps in his knowledge, and again they talked happily until Wolf said it was time for bed.

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The next day, when Wolf brought dinner in, Scarlet first noticed his deep frown. "What's wrong?"

Wolf looked uncomfortable for a minute without saying anything. He finally opened his mouth, but a took a moment for the words to come out. "I'm sorry, Scarlet...your grandmother's dead." He looked even more miserable.

Scarlet couldn't process the information at first. She sank onto the bed. "Are you sure?" she asked, trying to hold on to some hope.

Wolf's frown deepened and he nodded. "I saw her body."

"But…how did it happen?"

"I don't know, but I assume all of the torture finally added up. I'm so sorry."

Scarlet looked away, and then crumpled onto the bed, sobbing. Once the tears started, she didn't think they would ever stop. Eventually she noticed that Wolf was hovering nearby, unsure what to do. She turned to him and instinctively buried her face in his chest. He hesitantly put his arms around her. He held her as she continued to cry for what seemed like forever. Gradually she began to stop.

When all of her tears had come out, she pulled away from Wolf. "I'm sorry, I got your shirt all wet," she said weakly.

"It doesn't matter. What do you want to do now?"

"Tell me something happy." Scarlet sat down and ate her dinner half-heartedly while Wolf tried to cheer her up. Most of his attempts failed, but she found his awkwardness adorable. Eventually she decided she just wanted to go to sleep, even though it wasn't time yet, and Wolf got ready early too and turned the light off, even though she said he could leave it on.

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Scarlet woke up slowly. The light was on, so she kept her eyes closed. She didn't remember the light being on in the morning before.

Suddenly someone sat down gently on the side of the bed. She realized it must be Wolf. For the first time, she had woken up before he left. She decided she didn't want him to know she was awake and kept her eyes closed.

She felt his fingers in her hair and against her neck. Part of her wanted to complain, but most of her felt thrilled by the touch. His thumb reached over and traced her bottom lip. Then she could tell he was leaning over from the bed shifting and his head blocking out the light. She waited breathlessly for a kiss, and found herself disappointed when he merely kissed her forehead.

"I love you," Wolf said finally. Scarlet's eyes and mouth shot open in surprise, but he was already turning away. Before she could think of anything to say, he had gone out the door, turning the light off.

"He _loves_ me?" Scarlet exclaimed, sitting up in astonishment. She had realized over the past week that he still had the same feelings for her that he had shown in the train, but she hadn't realized their extent. Her feelings for him had been gradually returning as she got to know and trust him better, but she still felt betrayed on some level.

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When Wolf brought her lunch, Scarlet was tempted to say something about that morning, but she didn't know how to start, and he soon left. She spent the afternoon trying to think of what to say. She decided to start by bringing up him cuddling with her a few nights ago.

"Here's your dinner," Wolf said when he came in, sliding a tray onto the desk. Scarlet was lying on the bed with her portscreen. She sat up to talk to him, but he immediately went into the bathroom. She steeled herself to bring up her subject.

When he came out, she said, "Wolf, I'd like to talk to you about something."

He leaned against the wall. "What do you mean?

Scarlet felt embarrassed, but she made herself continue. "A few nights ago, I woke up and you had cuddled up with me, with your arm over me. I wasn't awake enough to call you on it then, but I wanted to mention it now. I don't think it's appropriate."

Wolf blushed but smiled indulgently. "Actually, you're the one who cuddled up with me."

"What?"

"Every morning since you came here, I've woken up with you next to me. You must be a really sound sleeper. I suppose you've never noticed that you wake up on my side of the bed?"

"Huh?" Scarlet looked away, trying to remember, but she couldn't. She decided to bring up what he had said. "I also was awake this morning when you kissed me and said…" she trailed off, embarrassed.

Wolf blushed again. He opened his mouth and then closed it without saying anything. Finally he said, "You really are a sound sleeper. I've kissed you and said that every morning since you got here."

"What?" was all she could reply.

Wolf squirmed. "I'm sorry."

"But you barely knew me! You still don't!"

"I fell in love with you on the journey here, and nothing's ever going to change that. That's why I wanted to protect you. I wanted to run away, but you insisted on going after your grandmother. So I was going to try to convince Jael to let you go. That's why I didn't tell you the truth before we got here, even though it nearly killed me. But then Jael wanted to torture you to get your grandmother to talk, so the only option I could see was to ask him to let you be my slave."

Scarlet stared at him, somewhat in shock. It took her a minute to process all of this. Wolf began to look nervous as she continued to stare at him in silence, but she couldn't think what to say. Eventually she cleared her throat. "I'm sorry I treated you so poorly when you first brought me here, but I didn't think I could trust you."

"It's okay. I understood how you must have felt. I'm just glad you seem to trust me more now." Scarlet realized that that was true. She did feel like she could trust him now, especially after what he'd just said.

"Well, you're still the same man I wanted to kiss on the train. I just know more details about your life now." Wolf smiled, but seemed surprised when Scarlet stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. "And I still want to kiss you." He didn't resist as she pulled his head down and kissed him. When she finally let him go, they were both smiling.

"This conversation went a lot better than I thought it would," Wolf said. "Now I have a surprise for you. I thought up a way for us to escape a few days ago, but I had to wait until you trusted me again to carry it out."

She smiled eagerly. "Really?"

"There's a small room with a window at the end of this hall. No one ever goes down there. I was thinking I could sneak a small rope up here, and then hang it down, tie a sturdier rope to the end, and pull it up. Then we could climb down the sturdier rope. What do you think?"

"If you think it will work, then sure. I don't know how well I could climb a rope, though. Aren't we several stories up?"

"You could ride on my back like when we jumped onto the train."

"Okay, and I won't kiss your cheek and upset your balance this time." They both smiled.

"I'll get everything set up tomorrow."

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Scarlet was nervous all day. Hopefully they would be long gone from Paris by tonight. But if their plan didn't work, they could end up imprisoned or killed. She barely touched her breakfast and lunch.

Wolf showed up earlier than usual for dinner, but then she noticed he didn't have a tray, only a large plastic shopping bag.

"Is that it?" Scarlet asked.

"Yes. I stashed a sturdier rope outside. After dinner, I'll go out and attach it to this rope. I also bought a new portscreen, since we should leave ours here in case they could be tracked. I'll bring you dinner in an hour, so have your bag packed." Wolf put the bag in the bottom dresser drawer and left.

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Scarlet had made sure to wash all of her dirty clothes the night before. She packed them, her toiletries, and a few other random things in her bag and waited impatiently.

Finally Wolf showed up. "I'm ready," Scarlet said, jumping up from the chair.

Wolf seemed surprised. "Don't you want to eat dinner first?"

"I'm too nervous. Let's just get out of here."

"Okay, let me change and pack." He grabbed some civilian clothes and went into the bathroom. He brought his toiletries out and shoved them and his other civilian clothes into the bag along with a few other things. Then he pulled out the shopping bag. He got a portscreen out of it and handed it to Scarlet. She put it in her pocket. "Be very quiet. And in case we get caught…." Wolf leaned down and kissed her. Then he grabbed both bags and went to the door.

Scarlet followed him down the hallway as quietly as possible. The room they entered was very small, but it had a big window. There was just enough light to see by. Wolf took the rope out of the bag and tied it to the doorknob. "Wait until you see me down there, then throw the rope down. If you can pull it up yourself, try, but if you can't, just wait for me. I'll be back soon." He left the room.

Scarlet felt very vulnerable waiting at the window. After what seemed like forever, she was grateful to see Wolf below. She threw down the rope. She couldn't really make out him tying the ropes together, but then he waved and left. She tried to pull the rope up, but she hadn't managed much by the time Wolf came back. He took over and soon the whole rope was in the room. He untied the small rope from the sturdy rope and the doorknob, and then tied the sturdy rope to the doorknob.

"Now's our chance," Wolf whispered. He put the bag over his shoulder and turned around. Scarlet climbed up on his back. He gently exited through the window, being careful to not hit Scarlet's head on the frame. He quickly descended.

When they reached the ground, Scarlet hopped off of Wolf and hurried after him as he started walking away. She realized that he hadn't told her what they were going to do next, but she didn't want to make noise, so she just followed him. After they walked several blocks, a hover showed up at the corner before them.

"Perfect timing," Wolf whispered, and climbed into the hover. Scarlet followed. "Take us to the Seine," he told the hover, and it took off. He pulled out a pocketknife and some gauze strips. "Now it's time for us to change our identities. Give me your wrist." She did so, and he carefully removed her ID chip. Then he got out a different one and inserted it. He wrapped and tied the gauze around the wound. "You are now Adeline Sartre," he said. Then he repeated the process for his ID chip. "And I'm now Ethan Montagne."

"Where are we going now?"

"First we're going to drop our old ID chips in the river. Then we'll take a different hover to the train station and go wherever you want."

"Hmm. I don't know where I want to go. Maybe we could start by taking the first train available and see where that leads us."

"Sounds good." They arrived at the Seine and got out. They walked to the edge and Wolf threw their ID chips as far as possible. "Hopefully they'll travel some. Now call another hover."

Scarlet did so with her new portscreen, and it soon arrived to take them to the train station. The next train leaving was for Strasbourg. Once they were settled in another privacy car, she was finally able to relax. "We did it! We're free!" she exclaimed. She kissed Wolf.

He pulled her to him, and when they separated, he agreed. "We're finally free."

%

Bonus Scene: Their First Morning Together From Wolf's Point of View

Wolf woke up slowly. Someone warm and comfortable was in his arms. He sighed in contentment, hugging her to him. He buried his nose in her hair, inhaling her sweet scent.

Then suddenly he was wide-awake. Scarlet was cuddled up against him, and he had put his arm over her. Wolf blushed when he realized that Scarlet was clutching his hand to her chest. He hadn't even touched her chest when they were making out in the train. He tried to gently pull his hand out of her grasp, but she clung to him at first. After some effort, he was free, and he was relieved that he could hear that she hadn't woken up. He knew she wouldn't like that he had cuddled up next to her.

Wolf scooted backwards away from her, but he had only gone a few inches when he nearly fell off of the side of the bed. He realized that she was the one who had cuddled up next to him.

He quietly got up and turned on the light. He glanced back at Scarlet, but she was still asleep. He got ready for the day.

When he came out of the bathroom, he saw that Scarlet had rolled onto her back. He sat down on the edge of the bed, drinking in the sight of her. He took her hand into his, and she gripped it back. He desperately wanted to kiss her soft lips, but he didn't think she would like that. He decided that he didn't want to kiss her on her lips unless she was kissing him back. Instead he compromised by kissing her on her forehead.

"I love you," slipped out of his mouth, words he wouldn't dare say to her when she was awake. Especially now, when she must hate him. After staring at her for a moment, he sighed and got up. He turned out the light and left the room.

When he brought her breakfast after he had eaten his, she was still asleep, so he put the tray on the desk and left.


End file.
